ddr2 or ddr3

kieves1 · 14 Jul 2009 at 21:16

Hi all.

I am going to be making a new £650 spec me thread tomorrow and was wondering if there is much performance difference between ddr2 and ddr3.

It would probably be an AMD system 720BE so it would be dual channel ddr3.

The pc im building will probably have to last a couple of years due to budget but with room for the odd upgrade etc.

So really will i get a lot more performance in the future out of ddr3 or juts get more cost effective ddr2????

Thanks

moppy89 · 14 Jul 2009 at 21:18

Im considering the very same thing. Im not sure whether to go with the AM2+ 940 or the AM3 955. Obviously the 940 doesnt support DDR3 but I dunno whethers its worth it to stretch for the 955...

kieves1 · 14 Jul 2009 at 21:21

Yeah i just want a bang for buck pc.If i can justify going quad then i will but the 720 looks very good at the price but just unsure bowt the ram.I suppose in a couple of years then the performance may be a lot better from ddr3 if games etc are made to utilise it

Kennysevenfold · 14 Jul 2009 at 21:29

i would say ddr3 tbh mate, but if you dont plan on crazy overclocks or upgrading in the next few years then just stick with ddr2.

Glaucus · 14 Jul 2009 at 21:29

ddr3 it's dropped in price and you can get the amazing am3 black edition. Either triple or quad core.

wupwup · 14 Jul 2009 at 21:41

i would say go for ddr3. its not much m ore and in a few years time it will be standard. migh as well future proof and get a ddr3 mobo.

kieves1 · 14 Jul 2009 at 22:27

Yeah i think i will go for DDR3.As futureproofing as i can get for the budget

moppy89 · 14 Jul 2009 at 22:29

Its obviously a bit complicated since for the price of bottom of the barrel DDR3 4gb, you could buy top of the line DDR2 4GB

Glaucus · 14 Jul 2009 at 23:29

what £47 cheapest ddr 3
£37 cheapest ddr2 and slower.

moppy89 · 14 Jul 2009 at 23:37

For £47 you could buy great DDR2 is what Im saying whereas youre buying crap DDR3 for the same price.

Glaucus · 14 Jul 2009 at 23:41

moppy89 said:
For £47 you could buy great DDR2 is what Im saying whereas youre buying crap DDR3 for the same price.

hows it crap? it's still far faster than £47 ddr2.

esoteric · 15 Jul 2009 at 02:54

I feel somewhat stupid to ask this but.. can DDR2 be used in DDR3 slots? I've been looking at a Phenom 2 Black like a fat kid in a cake shop and I can barely contain myself any longer. Can pick up a PH2 and Crosshair 3 mobo for around £300 and that's awesome imo for a tight budget, but it gets a little less awesome if you gotta get some new RAM on top of that.

RJC · 15 Jul 2009 at 07:22

DDR2 & DDR3 can not be used in the same slot, new DDR3 memory is needed.

JeremyW · 15 Jul 2009 at 09:42

AcidHell2 said:
hows it crap? it's still far faster than £47 ddr2.

I thought although DDR3 runs at higher frequencies, it also runs with higher latencies so you need to look at the actual sticks in question to see which is faster.

So your £47 DDR3 (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-109-OC&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1387) runs at 1333MHz but needs 7 of these clocks to access whereas your £42 DDR2 (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-110-OC&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=817) runs at 1066MHz but only needs 5 clocks to access.

This makes the DDR2 faster doesn't it?

kieves1 · 15 Jul 2009 at 18:30

Hmm keep the iinfo coming people.I need to understand before i buy lol.

Glaucus · 15 Jul 2009 at 18:52

all ddr3 has higher latencys. But as benchmarks show the higher data throughput increases performance over am2/+

you would be mad to go for anything other than an am3 system.

kieves1 · 15 Jul 2009 at 20:24

Ok Am3 all the way then.Get me a nice quad and some nice ddr3 and i will be fine for a couple of years.I can play my games at low quality anyday.